Sustainable intensification of crop-livestock systems to improve food security and farm income diversification in the Ethiopian highlands
Project Design Workshop
30 January - 2 February 2012, Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Presentation: Impact assessment and M&E in this program (Stan Wood, IFPRI)

This workshop provides an opportunity for a broad group of important stakeholders to both learn about the project plans and to share their views on expectations from and opportunities for synergies with the project (days 1 and 2) and for the core project team to finalize the project details (days 3 and 4).




Sustainable intensification of farming systems: M&E goals, implementation strategy and data analysis platforms.
  • M&E guiding principles:
    • Compliance with USAid's FtF, GoE and CRP;
      • Multi-scale, multi-site reporting: action site/sub-system and system reporting; country reports, regional reports, SSA reports.
      • Monitoring and projection: short term projections of key indicators, updated annually. Links with analytical tools.
      • Scaling indicators up and out (spatial & temporal) for various outcomes.
      • Open-access data and analysis platforms.
  • Required indicators to make you think about the selection of components etc.
  • Some 'required if applicable' indicators - looking at the integrated picture: measures of partial productivity are going to be complex and we might need some additional indicators in some areas e.g. individuals receiving short term training, value of incremental sales etc.
  • We will have to take some tough decisions later on re: indicators and M&E generally;
  • Monitoring and reporting levels: at action sites, sub-systems, larger systems (geographically disparate in Ethiopia and across the other project countries) - we need analytical tools for this!
  • We will overlay all information collected.
  • Impact pathway from a) sub-system resource potential (land, rainfall) to b) anthropization (market-access, population density) and c) site/household specific attributes( topography, endowment, household typologies). NEXT: look into spatial analysis to provide geographic definition and characterization.
  • Various tools to combine to provide us a big picture.
  • Some key M&E activities (not shown)
  • M&E implementation to date:
    • Establish core FtF monitoring obligations (agree required core indicators and reporting timelines)
    • Recruit M&E coordinator
    • Establish the M&E implementation community;
    • M&E open access, web-based platform;
    • Annual M&E technical meeting;
  • Pragmatic take: collect data and information on site/station - inventorise.
  • Questions:
    • Split of M&E resources between early assessments and outcome / impact;
    • Process to select components;
    • cost of meeting donor's minimum indicator needs?
    • Internal project management versus strategic M&E needs?
    • Establishing shared roles in data and tool dev't and applicationo;
    • Interest in being part of the wider M&E community (national partners)?
    • Any likely candidates for M&E coordinator?